President Obama: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Regarding Cuba

The world tells you the good news first then disappoints you with bad news. Though my title is in this earthly style, I prefer the style of the holy writings. They tell you the bad first, then the good.

The Ugly:
The U.S. regime’s new agreement with the Cuban regime includes an expansion of the Drug War and State solutions to the environment. There is nothing I can say about the ills of the Drug War that has not already been said by more well-informed writers. It’s ugly. Libertarians should not ignore the problems of the environment, but they are not to be resolved by top-to-bottom thinking coercive State bureaucrats. The environment should be protected through stronger protection of private property, a la the Institute of Justice and not the Keystone Pipeline. Pollution is an invasion of property rights, and should be treated as such in consensual courts. Mediators and arbitrators can render awards for you in these cases.

The Bad:
Tourists are still not allowed to travel freely to Cuba. There are arbitrary State mandated limits on the costs of goods you can import from Cuba. There are arbitrary State mandated limits on the amount of remittances you can send to your loved ones on the island of Cuba.

family visits, official visits, journalistic, professional, educational and religious activities, and public performances

will all have looser arbitrarily mandated State limits on them. You can now import more tobacco, alcohol and other Cuban products. I congratulated President Obama when he made strides toward abolishing immigration laws (border apartheid), and I congratulate President Obama now when he is making strides toward abolishing the embargo on Cuba.

I am an abolitionist. Abolition is not just about slavery. Abolishing slavery was good, but so would abolishing the embargo on Cuba be. If you respect consent, then you should be outraged that the consensual exchanges betwixt Cubans and Americans are being forcibly prohibited by the United States’ regime. If you believe State Socialism will collapse on its head then prove it by fully liberating consensual exchanges with Cuba. Senator Marco Rubio’s recent comments on Cuba show his economic illiteracy and unthinking bigotry toward the Castro family. Senator Rubio shows us his disdain for the freed market by publicly disagreeing with President Obama’s move. Does Rubio think State Socialism can out-compete the freed market? There are legion diktats of President Obama that are wrong, but we should give credit when credit is due. Kudos President Obama, and shame on you Senator Rubio.

RE: The environment should be protected through stronger protection of private property, a la the Institute of Justice and not the Keystone Pipeline. Pollution is an invasion of property rights, and should be treated as such in consensual courts. Mediators and arbitrators can render awards for you in these cases.